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Akihito Koinuma - Japan, July 2013 to July 2014

My name is Aki. I'm from Tokyo Japan. I wanted to come to New Zealand because I wanted to improve my English.
When I went to Horowhenua College and saw it for the first time I thought this school is huge. I thought this school's area is four times bigger than my school. This school is cool.
My subjects were English, Creative Catering, Drama, Outdoor Education, Physical Education, and ESOL.
My favourite classes were Creative Catering, Drama and Outdoor Education. Creative Catering was great because we got to eat the yummy food afterwards. Drama was cool. I decided to do acting in front of people. It was just awesome. When I was acting I felt comfortable. It was a little bit strange when we finished acting that people clapped. I will never forget that scene. I really enjoyed Outdoor Education. We did rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and camping. My favourite was camping because I saw beautiful natural vegetation in New Zealand from this activity. We stayed on the mountain in either tents or huts. This was a new experience in New Zealand for me. ESOL was a great class. This class helps students with their English so most of the people were international students. I learned English a lot from this ESOL class. I liked the teacher. It was so good. They were my subjects and were subjects I could not experience in Japan.
After school I played volleyball and kayaking with the school teams. I played volleyball two times a week on Tuesday and Wednesdays and every second week on Tuesdays we played a game with other schools in Palmerston North. Sometimes we won and sometimes we lost. It was a good experience because I also play volleyball in Japan and I could learn how kiwis learn volleyball. It was not much different.
I played kayaking every Sunday. It was so much fun because when we finished practice we then played a game and every time I got a point it was "oh yea" but just in my mind, actually, I do clap myself!
I also learned dance at ‘Kate Martin School of Dance’ after school. I was good in this class. I did a performance with them.
Before I finished my time at Horowhenua College, I performed with the students in ‘Stage Challenge’. Our School came second in the Manawatu Competition. This was a great experience. Also I performed in the ‘Nua Idol’ competition at school, receiving a medal, and also spoke at full assembly.
Overall, my time at Horowhenua College was awesome. I have loved being in New Zealand, loved the scenery seen on the trips through College, and learning about the New Zealand culture.
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